Is It Too Late Now To Say Sorry?
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Jace knows that he made a mistake. Clace. OneShot.


_So obviously this song was inspired by_ Sorry _by Justin Bieber. Dude, like what happened to him? All of a sudden he's making music that I actually like! Hahaha. Anyway, hope you enjoy it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the song, only the story and any mistakes._

 _Is it too late now to say sorry?_  
 _Cause I'm missing more than just your body_  
 _Is it too late now to say sorry?_  
 _Yeah I know that I let you down_  
 _Is it too late to say I'm sorry now?_

Jace Wayland swallowed hard as he looked to his right and saw Clarissa Fray lunging forward, her rune marked sword flying through the air with ease as she lunged forward and swiped at the vampire in front of her. It hissed and took a few steps back, looking as though it was going to run toward her again, when she pulled a dagger from the back of her boot and sent it soaring forward, lodging deep inside the vampires throat. She barely waited a second before jumping through the air, her thighs going to either side of the vampires head and twisting viciously until it's neck was broken.

"On your left!" Came a shout and Jace dodged to the side, quickly broken out of his trance and slashing out with his own sword. Isabelle Lightwoods electrum-laced whip came slashing through the air, wrapping around the neck of the vampire and pulling it stumbling backwards toward her.

The vampires had been becoming more and more confident, appearing all over the city, and in greater numbers. This time it took them close to three hours before they had them all killed, and were stumbling back to the Institute. Alec Lightwood had a furious expression on his face, while the other three all just looked exhausted. There was something about Magnus that was forever furious though, so it likely had nothing to do with the vampires they had just fought.

"Are you okay?" Isabelle asked as they reached their home and pushed open the heavy doors.

"Yeah, fine," Clary replied, shooting her a tight smile.

"You guys want a drink?" Isabelle asked as she started toward the kitchen.

"I'll take one," Alec grunted. The pair of them had already partially drawn their Iratze runes before going, and then completed them on the way back. "You guys coming?" He looked over his shoulder to Jace and Clary.

"I'm fine. You guys go ahead," Clary said stiffly. "I'll see you in the morning." She shot a smile over Alec's shoulder to Isabelle and then glanced across at Jace before walking up the steps. Jace watched after her as she disappeared, and then swallowed hard before looking back to the Lightwood siblings.

"Wild guess," Isabelle said wryly. "You don't want a drink either?" Jace gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes before following after Clary up the steps. He went to his bedroom first, carefully burning a rune into his chest. It glowed golden, and then faded, and he felt the cuts and bruises from the fight healing. He closed his eyes as he waited for his skin to stop humming and then began undressing. He folded and put everything away carefully, heading toward the bathroom down the hall dressed in only a pair of sweatpants that he was going to sleep in. His whole body was aching and ready to sleep, and he rubbed a hand over his face as he went to push open the door.

He stopped short when he realized there was already somebody inside, his whole body aware of her presence with every sense he had.

Clary.

She was cleaning the wounds on her chest, stomach and arms. The wounds themselves were already healing, almost completely gone from the runes she had etched into her skin, but the blood was still there. Jace wondered why she wasn't in the shower, but he wasn't complaining. She glared at the reflection in the mirror as she started scrubbing roughly at her face, getting rid of the dirt and the dried blood. Then her eyes shifted in the mirror and she saw Jace standing the doorway and she froze for a split second.

"I won't be long," she told him in monotone, going back to cleaning, not looking at all bothered by the fact he was looking at her in just her bra and ripped jeans.

Why should she be?

She was perfect.

And it was nothing that he hadn't seen or touched a hundred times before.

"Yeah, sure," Jace muttered, quickly averting his eyes. He felt his stomach clench as he saw her toss a rag toward the laundry basket in the corner of the room, blood staining the light blue material. There was a time not so long ago that they would wash the remains of battles off one another in a shower, his fingers tangling in her long hair and her hands resting on his hips.

"Excuse me," she said quietly as she turned around and walked toward the door. Jace swallowed hard and stepped aside, letting her walk past. He watched her disappear into her bedroom and he sighed, running his hand through his shaggy, matted hair before going into the bathroom and shutting the door, leaning against the wall.

 _Fuck_ , he missed her.

* * *

"Again!" Alec snapped, lunging toward Jace and slashing out at him with one of their practice swords. Jace deflected and then stepped to the side, one of his fists coming out to knock Alec off guard. The two boys had been fighting with each other for far too long though, and they knew each others movements sometimes before even themselves knew. They parried for a good half an hour and then Alec frowned as he saw Jace leave himself wide open, and he easily stepped into the golden haired mans space and hooked his ankle behind his leg, sending Jace sprawling forward on the blue mats. Jace let out an 'oof' but didn't get up or throw our some smart retort. Alec bit back his worry as he held out his hand to help his friend get to his feet.

"Good job," Jace grunted.

"No, it wasn't," Alec replied in his usual blunt manner. "You're just doing a shit job."

"Always know how to make someone feel better, Alec," Jace rolled his eyes as he took Alec's hand and pulled himself to his feet, rolling his shoulders and nodding his head from side to side.

"It's not me that you want to make you feel better," Alec raised an eyebrow knowingly. Jace's face hardened and he dropped his eyes. He didn't say anything for a moment before slipping back into a fighters stance, his body poised and his hands in front of him, his eyes narrowed. Alec sighed and attacked him again.

This time, Jace attacked with _too_ much ferocity. The pair were panting with sweat dripping down their foreheads and getting into their eyes. Alec took every punch that his friend delivered, knowing that every time Jace's knuckles struck his skin it was because he needed to release the pain that he had in his bones. A simple rune would be able to heal himself after their session, which was far more simpler for him to use than what Jace could.

In the end, Jace just stopped, his shoulders slumped and breathing heavily. Alec swallowed hard and resting his hand on Jace's arm.

"This has gone on way too long, man," he said quietly. "You need to talk to her."

"There's nothing to say," Jace stated softly.

"There's always something to say," Alec answered. "Even if you think there isn't. When it's you two...Come on. You two can't go back to how you were before you were together. I don't think you two can even go back to _not_ being together. That's just not going to happen. And this whole unspoken love shit has now been going on for long enough."

"Says the guy who has been mooning over a warlock for the past year and a half and still hasn't done anything about it," Jace shot at him, clearly not in the mood to talk. Alec pursed his lips together and then shook his head.

"All I'm saying is that you're not quite as a big an asshole when you're with her," he snapped before turning on his heel and walking out of the training room. Jace watched him go and then let out a long exhale, glad that they were the only ones in the room at this hour of the day. Alec was his best friend and at the end of the day, he was only looking out for him. Alec had been the person who was most against Jace and Clary actually getting together to begin with, so the fact that he was trying to push them back together was really saying something.

But Alec had been right.

With the way they lived, they couldn't afford distractions.

They shouldn't be started relationships, and especially not with one another.

Sure, Jace had slept with a couple of the other girls at the Institute. But it had never meant anything to him, and none of them were girls that he fought side by side with.

Clary...Clary had always been the girl he wanted but knew he should never have. Her mother and father were infamous amongst the Shadow Hunter world that they lived in, and as their daughter, she was just as popular. But she didn't rely on her fame to get her through; she was strong, she was a fierce fighter, loyal, funny...Gorgeous, sweet, with a sharp tongue and a quick wit.

Jace shook his head.

It had been his fault, as the leader of their group; himself, Clary, Alec and Isabelle. Above all, it was his responsibility to put their team before themselves, to make sure they were safe and fighting as one, but he had risked it all for her.

And then when things got hard, and he had realized that he couldn't keep a clear head, he had broke it off with her. She had fought it, but he had made up his mind. So she had jerked her head in a nod, never one to lower herself to begging, and had told him stiffly that she understood and never mentioned it again.

It didn't mean that he didn't see the longing that matched his own when she looked at him, or that he noticed she couldn't be close to him without her breathing quickening.

Which just made it harder to breath and made his heart tighten in his chest and made his skin prickle all over.

He knew that Alec was probably right.

He didn't think that he could _not_ be with Clary, not since he now knew what he would be missing out on.

* * *

"We're right behind you," Jace muttered as the four of them all stopped before going into the club. Clary glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes before focussing her attention on Isabelle. Jace tried to ignore the brush off, knowing that he had lost his right to be the one to finish her prep right before they went in on a mission. Alec looked annoyed, although that was just his usual expression, as he looked through the gap in the back door, into the club. Isabelle gave Clary a quick smile and ran her fingers through her thick hair, giving it a few more twirls around her fingers and arranging it around her face.

"You look fucking hot," she stated with a smirk.

"You're only saying that because you got to treat me like your doll," Clary shot back, but she was smiling back.

"Don't say you didn't love it," Isabelle said playfully. Jace swallowed hard and tried to clear his head.

"Come on, we need to move," he stated. Clary glanced at him again before turning around and walking toward the club. It didn't feel like that long ago that she wouldn't be seen dead in anything other than her converses, but here she was, in a pair of heels that made her almost as tall as the other three.

"So how much longer are we going to deal with this?" Isabelle said under her breath as they closed the door behind Clary and then Alec lifted his steele so that they could watch her move amongst the other club goers.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Iz," Jace replied stiffly.

"I wouldn't even bother," Alec grunted. "He's playing dumb."

" _He's_ standing right here," Jace reminded the pair.

"Whatever," Alec just narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders, staring ahead. Jace licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the pair of them. They had been alerted to a reaper gone rogue a few days ago, and they were pretty sure they had narrowed down the person he had possessed. Clary was going in as bait, and to say that Jace wasn't happy about it would be an understatement. But Isabelle's runes were all over her chest and neck, while Clary's were centralized mainly to her arms and stomach, so it made it easier to cover but still show off enough flesh to get attention. The one on her back and on her neck were covered by makeup and her hair. Reapers were known to like a little foreplay before they actually went in to the suck the life out of their neck victim.

"There he is," Isabelle's body tensed next to the boys as she saw Clary pretend to stumble and reach out to steady herself against the person closest to her, which just so happened to be the blonde haired man. When he turned to look at her, his expression was annoyed at first, but then he drank her in, and Jace saw the way the mans eyes flared as he skimmed over the red head.

Even if he hadn't been there with the task of killing the blonde, he would have wanted to go after him just for the lewd way he was looking at Clary.

She laughed and flicked her hair over her shoulder, nodding when he offered her a drink. When he turned his back to her and ordered a drink at the bar, Clary gave them a discreet nod, confirming that he was what they were looking for. Jace shifted next to his friends, glad that it had been a quick find, but already moving onto the next thing to worry about, which was getting the reaper out in the back alley where they were. Clary needed to lead him out there so that they could all attack him, because they were lethal, and there was no way a shadow hunter could take one on alone. Muchless surrounded by mundanes, because there was no way the reaper would go down easily, without taking an innocent with them.

The reaper in the humans body turned back to Clary and handed her a drink. She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes, leaning in close to him so that her scent surrounded him. Jace knew exactly what she was doing, and why, but that didn't make it any easier. His hands clenched into fists at his side and he had to swallow hard to fight back the urge to storm in there.

"Here she comes," Isabelle said and the boy stepped back from the door, Alec slipping his steele into his belt and rendering them all temporarily blind. It was only a minute before the backdoor was opening, and the reaper and Clary were coming out. He had his arm slung around her shoulder, a satisfied look on his face as she pretended to drunkenly topple forward, in the direction of where Alec was hiding. The reaper thought that he had an easy kill, and he pushed Clary up against the brick wall, his eyes suddenly rolling upward and the air around them turning icy.

"Now!" Clary suddenly screamed out, her hand going between her thighs to grab at the blade strapped to her leg, lunging forward. The reaper froze for a moment, and then Alec and Jace were around him, their intent clear as they slashed out with their swords. The reaper shouted out, attempting to grab Clary by the hair but she dodged out of his way before she jabbed her blade back at him. She caught his arm, slicing deep enough that would send a normal person howling to their knees on the ground. Instead, black blood just leaked from the wound and the reaper hissed and growled, whipping it's head to the side.

"Nowhere to go, buddy," Isabelle sung out, an artful flick of her wrist sending her whip wrapping around the reapers legs and forcing him to surrender. Jace drew his hand back before letting his sword bury itself into the hilt in the reapers chest. He roared and twitched, the edges of the body turning hazy as he tried to return to his shadowy self, but Jace's stab had inflicted too much damage.

The reaper twisted it's head to the side in one last attempt to drag someone down with him, and he caught Clary's gaze. Clary tried to pull her eyes away quickly, but she already felt the air being dragged from her lungs.

"Shit, he's got her!" Clary vaguely heard Alec shout and she saw Jace's head snap in her direction, his shaggy hair flying around his face and looking like some sort of halo.

"You need to finish him, Jace!" Isabelle yelled and then Clary heard a roaring in her ears, undoubtedly from the lack of oxygen, and her vision blotted out.

* * *

Clary's body felt heavy and sluggish and she cracked one eyelid to look over at her arm. It was aching, and she knew that there must have been another rune added to the eleven or twelve already littered over her body. It was still red and the flesh was tender, so it must have been recently applied. Her eyes went to the base of the bed, where Jocelyn Fray was standing, looking tired but smiling.

"Hey, baby doll," Jocelyn murmured. "How you feeling?"

"Like I almost died," Clary attempted to joke and grin but her chest tightened and Jocelyn came around to the side of the bed, picking up the bottle of water.

"No joking. You're not even funny when you're at full capacity," Jocelyn rolled her eyes and Clary narrowed her eyes back at her. Her mother grinned and waited for Clary to take a long pull from the bottle. She gave it back to Jocelyn and then laid her hands on either side of her body, turning quickly to the side when she felt her left hand touch something.

Jace.

"He's been here all night," Jocelyn said quietly. Jace was fast asleep, still wearing the ripped clothes from that nights fight, his head resting on his crossed arms. "That boy is one of a kind—"

"Mum," Clary cut her off and Jocelyn gave her an innocent look.

"What?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'm just going to get some rest."

"Oh really?" Clary asked, not looking convinced at her mothers excuse.

"Shit, girl. I've been up since three looking after you. Think of someone else around here," Jocelyn teased her lightly before turning on her heel and walking out of her daughters room. Clary sighed and rubbed her hand over her face, reaching out to grab the water bottle again. It was no secret that her parents hadn't been happy when her and Jace had gotten together originally, especially given Jace's reputation. But he had won them over, especially Jocelyn.

"You look like crap," came a croaky voice from next to her. Clary glanced to the left where Jace was lifting his head from where it had been resting on his arms. His face looked adorably rumbled, his hair a mess and his eyes bleary. Clary couldn't stop herself from reaching out to run her fingers through his shaggy strands, trying to tame it. Then she caught herself and pulled back quickly, but Jace's reflexes were quickly, wrapping his hands around her wrist. "It was a little touch and go there for a few minutes, Red," he whispered.

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Clary told him, attempting a half smile but Jace's expression didn't change. "Anyway, if I leave, who else is going to kick your ass when you're acting like an arrogant prick?"

"Uh, Isabelle. Alec. Your mum," he began to list and Clary rolled her eyes, letting out a huff, and he finally let out a laugh, lightening up. "Besides, it's not acting like an arrogant prick if you're actually as amazing as you say you are."

"Oh my god," Clary let out a snort of disbelief. "You're impossible—" she couldn't speak any further because Jace was suddenly on his feet and pressing his lips to hers. Clary's eyes were wide as one of his hands cupped her cheek, holding her face against his. He pulled back for a second, his golden eyes locking on hers, all his worry and love etched in his flecked orbs, and she felt her heart clench in a completely different way to how it had been a couple of minutes ago.

"You cannot leave me, Clary," he told her, sounding completely vulnerable and un-Jace. "You hear me? You _cannot_ leave me."

"I know, I—I won't," she managed to stammer before his mouth were back on hers, a lot more urgently this time. His tongue probed at her lips and she parted them willingly, letting out a broken gasp when his other hand touched her neck, his fingers brushing against the soft skin, massaging her. When they pulled apart, Jace rested his forehead against hers.

"Tell me it's not too late to say sorry—"

"You're an idiot," Clary mumbled, one hand coming up to clench his shirt. "You're a fucking idiot. And you're gonna need to apologize a hundred more times before I accept it." Jace looked conflicted but she relented with a part smile. "But not all of them need to be verbally said." He caught the meaning of her words and tilted his head to the side.

"You're one of a kind, Clary Fray."

"Damn right I am. And you're lucky that you are too, Jace Wayland."

 _Let me know what you think! Your reviews and words make me very, very happy :)_


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